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Clerics Take a Truth
Test,
Then Go Press the Flesh

By

Stephen J. Glain Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Oct. 22, 1998 12:01 a.m. ET

TEHRAN, Iran -- Mahmood Reza Akbari is working the phones in the ramshackle campaign headquarters for a stable of candidates he manages. One of his clients, a cleric, is scheduled to give a 15-minute interview at the state-run television studio. Mr. Akbari is worried.

"The problem is getting them from the mosque to the studio," says Mr. Akbari, his brow furrowing as he considers Tehran's snarled midday traffic. "This is...